US sending experts to help in crashed ET409 probe

The US Embassy in Beirut said on Tuesday that the US is sending experts to assist the Lebanese government in its probing crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409, which crashed on Monday morning in stormy weather shortly after takeoff from Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport.
“The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is sending a team to assist the Lebanese government in its investigation,” an embassy spokesperson told AFP.

The team, is expected to arrive in Beirut on Tuesday or Wednesday and will be headed by Dennis Jones, a senior NTSB investigator. Jones will be assisted by three technical advisers from the US Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing.

ET409 crash: French investigation team arrived in Beirut

Two members from the French Accident Investigation Bureau for Civil Aviation (BEA) arrived in Beirut to participate in the ongoing investigations in the Ethiopian ET409 plane crash.
Among the names on the passenger list was that of Marla Sanchez Pietton, the wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon. The French embassy yesterday declined to comment on the fate of the French ambassador’s wife according to An Nahar newspaper

ET409 pilot blamed for the crash

The Ethiopian jet that crashed into the sea off Beirut on Monday did not fly in the direction suggested by Beirut’s control tower, Lebanese officials said.

Captain of crashed airliner didn’t follow Beirut airport instructions

According to As Safir newspaper sources  the captain of the Ethiopian airliner received instruction form the control tower of Beirut airport  one minute after  taking off  to change direction in order to avoid the path of a storm. The captain reportedly responded  positively  but did not do as directed . He reportedly received  another call and again he promised to  follow the instructions but didn’t .

The airport reported that several airlines took off minutes before and after the Ethiopian airliner and all were ok.

An  Ethiopian government official Shimeles Kemal, who is the state minister for communication   said the plane caught fire five minutes after takeoff. The official also said that the airline did not receive any threats and does not think there was any foul play involved

French embassy declined to comment on fate of ambassador’s wife

Al-Nahar newspaper has reported that the French Embassy in Beirut has declined  so far to comment  on the fate of the French ambassador’s wife Maria Sanchez Beyton, one of  the missing passengers on the crashed Ethiopian Airliner

Baroud: The priority should be the rescue operation

Lebanese Minister of Interior Ziad Baroud said in reference to Ethiopian plane crash: “The disaster must be addressed by experts in this field and the priority right now is not to investigate the incident , but to rescue the bodies of the passengers .”
He said in an interview with “OTV “, “in Lebanon we are not accustomed to such disasters, we need system of crisis management, ” stressing that this is a day of solidarity and requires all Lebanese to support the efforts of the security forces and the military .
Baroud called on the citizens to inform the security forces and concerned departments immediately if they find anything related to the air crash without tampering with it.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Harir ( L) , Transportation and public works minister Ghazi Aridi ( C), Interior Minister Ziad Baroud (R) and Health Minister Mohammad Khalife  (R) behind Baroud are in a helicopter to view the scene of the plane crash

Baghdad suicide bombers and gunmen kill 36, injure 80

At least 36 people were killed and more than 80 injured when suicide bombers and gunmen launched the latest in a string of coordinated assaults on prominent buildings. The targets were the following hotels often used by visiting foreigners.
Babylon hotel, a pyramid-shaped icon on the banks of the Tigris river.
Hamra hotel which houses reporters from the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Times and US National Public Radio. guardian.co.uk

Health Minister: The issue of the bodies is very sensitive

Health Minister Mohammed Jawad Khalifeh said in reference to the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash: “There are some bodies beyond recognition because of the subsequent deformation. He added that “things are very difficult, since  a blood examination  must be  carried out under the supervision of the criminal evidence and therefore we need a lot of time and mistakes  in this issue are out of the question .”
He said in an interview with “MTV”, “when we have a sufficient number of bodies we will  call on the relatives to come an identify them  .”
Khalifa pointed out that these   are very sensitive issues  and “we can not hand over any body to anyone without making sure they are the rightful owners.

Lebanon: Ethiopian Airlines plane crash in pictures

Ethiopian Airline Flight 409 with 90 passengers on board exploded and plunged into the sea off Lebanon just after takeoff in stormy weather early on Monday.

Bad weather blamed for Ethiopian plane crash

Lebanese authorities have ruled out sabotage as the cause of a fatal Ethiopian Airlines plane crash off the coast of Lebanon, instead blaming bad weather.
Flight ET409, a Boeing 737-800 heading for Addis Ababa, disappeared off the radar five minutes after taking off at 2:37am on Monday (local time).
Authorities downplayed hopes of finding survivors and focused on recovering the remains of passengers still strapped to their seats.
Lebanon’s Defense Minister Elias el Murr said stormy weather was “in principle” to blame for the crash.
“A command tower recording shows the tower told the pilot to turn to avoid the storm, but the plane went in the opposite direction,” Mr Murr said in a television interview.
“We do not know what happened or whether it was beyond the pilot’s control.” Murr said. ABC